Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Chrysanthemum leucanthemum cultivar Angel.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Leucanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemum leucanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Angelxe2x80x99.
The new Leucanthemum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia. The objective of the breeding program is to create compact Leucanthemum cultivars with anemone-type inflorescences.
The new Leucanthemum originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1997, in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia, of a proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum leucanthemum identified as code number Dx97.12.4, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum leucanthemum identified as code number Dx97.12.8, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Leucanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled environment in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia. The selection of this plant was based on its compact plant habit and anemone inflorescence form.
Asexual reproduction of the new Leucanthemum by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia in 1997. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Leucanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Angel has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength, and/or light level, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Angelxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Angelxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Leucanthemum:
1. Upright, compact and uniform plant habit.
2. Early flowering habit.
3. Anemone-type inflorescences.
4. White-colored ray florets and greenish yellow to white-colored disc florets.
5. Good garden performance.
Compared to plants of the female parent selection, plants of the new Leucanthemum are more compact and flower earlier. In addition, plants of the female parent selection have single-type inflorescences. Compared to plants of the male parent selection, plants of the new Leucanthemum are more compact. In addition, plants of the male parent selection have single-type inflorescences.
Plants of the new Leucanthemum can be compared to plants of the Leucanthemum cultivar Darling Daisy, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia, plants of the new Leucanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Darling Daisy in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Leucanthemum had longer leaves than plants of the cultivar Darling Daisy.
2. Plants of the new Leucanthemum had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Darling Daisy.
3. Plants of the new Leucanthemum had anemone-type inflorescences whereas plants of the cultivar Darling Daisy had single-type inflorescences.